Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 10. What Worked Twice...

It took longer than Seth had expected, but after some time there appeared a group of Goblins. It were 8 Goblins lead by a creature about the size of a human. This was probably the orc. It wasnʼt the weird pig-like kind that some north-eastern novels featured, but the green skinned kind he knew from games. A rough description would be a skin with a moss-green tint, long pointy ears like an elf, a body full of muscles and a lower jaw featuring a pair of big tusks.

When one of the Goblins came close to the house it spotted the corpses of their companions Seth had placed there. The goblins found one of their own on the front lawn. Another was draped over the sofa Seth had placed to block the frontdoor.

Big Guy, as Seth named the Orc, shouted something at the Goblins in a guttural language. Two of them split off and stayed in front of the house, while the rest climbed over the sofa, into the house. Big piles of rubbish, broken furniture and branches were piled up at the frontdoor and along the hallway. Here they found another body and the last one on the stairs. Big guy also entered the house after listening to their hectic squeaking, to see for himself.

It was time. Seth returned to the yard unnoticed, through the small hole in the thicket he had made with the billhook.

Big Guy made his way upstairs, following the trail of blood. He knew that up there was one of his toys the Goblins had captured for him. But why had they been up there? It had already died yesterday. Maybe he could find a clue up there. The Gobs didnʼt have the brain to do much more than eat, f*ck and kill.

”What works twice, also works a third time.”, Seth stated with conviction as he set fire to the heap of rubbish he had piled up at the backdoor. Like before in the grass, the fire traveled along a trail of frying oil with tremendous speed. Almost instantly it lit up all the trash piles across the house and set it aflame!

”Burn...”, he said with a glimmer in his eyes.

Big guy was half way up the stairs, when suddenly a pale white flame passed him, travelling up the handrails! Shocked, he looked back down only to see a sea of flames! When had this happened! The Goblins behind were already rushing towards the frontdoor only to see, that it was blocked by a wall of flames created by the burning sofa and trash piles. Turning around again Big Guy ran up the stairs as fast as he could, but the flames were already licking towards him from the top of the stairs. He could hear the agonizing cries of the goblins in front. He saw their burning silhouettes rolling on the floor and writhing in pain! And he himself was cornered on the stairs!

Flames from above, flames from below and the fire from the handrails had already jumped onto his rough clothes, burning his skin!

Seth could also hear the tragic howls of the screaming Goblins within the burning house. But contrary to Big Guys panic, Seth felt quite satisfied as he also heard the of kill notifications. He was waiting on the front lawn. The two Goblin-guards had already been cleaned up by him.

He stood in the front yard enjoying the show. Seth had come up with this idea, because he felt the urge to give that woman a dignified burial. That whole scene up there should really just vanish from this world. And what would be better than fire? Now even her murderers were burning to death with her, if this could not satisfy a vengeful ghost, then nothing would.

Just a Seth started wondering why he had not gotten a notification about the orc, a loud bang could be heard from the houses wall! With a rain of bricks and debris a charred Orc charged a hole into the houses wall and flopped down on the front lawn.

haha! He had survived! Big Guy had collected all the strength he had left and managed to break the wall at the corner he was trapped in! Air! Oh, fresh air! His skin was burned black and terrifying pain surged when he moved, but he was alive! He was overwhelmed by the euphoria of having survived! He laughed and took a deep breath as he laid there in the grass until a shadow fell on him.

It was a tall lanky human with sickly pale skin. His cold eyes looked down on Big Guy as he brushed back his untamed mane of hair and sighed.

”Really... why couldnʼt you be obedient and die up there, huh?”

Big Guys happiness was cut short. Literally. By a billhook.

Yet another title. It didnʼt seem very hard to gain titles from the system. the 3000exp were about a tenth of his experience bar and about as much as he got for all the goblins together.

Seth looked on as the Orcʼs soul left its body. It was a little bigger than the souls he had seen before.

The joy of finding another uncommon soul was dampened by the fact, that he couldnʼt collect it with his skill!

Seth had to wait for the House to burn down anyway, so he chose to take a look at his status. He had a hunch about those SPs.

Name: Seth Smith

Title: ”Faster than the Thought”

Level: 5

Exp: 28%

Race: Ori Huma

Sex:Male

Age:23

Class: Spirit Blacksmith (Unique)

Affiliation: None

Health: 1000/1000

Mana:110 (INTx10)

Strength:13

Dexterity:17

Agility: 12

Intelligence:11

Willpower:10

Endurance:14

Personality:8

Luck:15

Free AP(Attribute points): 45

Free SP(Skill points): 4

Defense:

Physical : 122 (42+50+ 25+5)

Magical :45 (20+25)

Fire Resistance :80%(50%+30%)

Skill Window :

Calm Reaction(passive) lv.2

Blacksmith(Beginner)lv.8(51%)

Blacksmithʼs Eyes lv.1

Smelting(Beginner) lv.7(11%)

Blueprint(Beginner) lv.2

Weapon Mastery(Beginner) lv.4 (45%)

Spirit Smithy lv.1

Spirit Capture lv.1

Map lv.1

Fear resistance lv.2

Fire Affinity lv.3

Soul Infusion lv.1

When Seth concentrated on SP he actually got an explanation. There were different kinds of skills, those based on proficiency like , which he could grind and those he couldnʼt, like . They were based on enlightenment or achievements. Those skills could also be raised with SPs! When he chose SP he got a similar menu to when he chose AP. It showed a list of skills he could add points, too. He was already sold on leveling up and ! He wanted to see how would change! While pondering about what other skills he should raise, if any at all, he noticed .

Was this the new class skill?

So there were more class skills unlocked when he reached a specific level? Maybe there were other requirements, too? It was definitely an interesting skill, but souls were limited, so he would really have to pick and choose when to infuse them. The skill wasnʼt too helpful at the moment.

In the end he also chose . He still had those cut off vines that only showed ”???” and really wanted to know. It would also be good, if he could identify uncommon materials other than souls, too.. He would keep 1 Free SP just in case.